Snagger

Ah, got your drift now. The jubilee clip is a good idea.

The tubes are an interference fit with large puddle welds. I think the case is cast steel.

Having had a good nose about a Tesla shop in the US last month, I was very impressed. I think the recharge times vs range will be viable within a few years, and it's already good enough that I'd buy one now if I had the cash.

Really? Seems pretty clear to me.

I used a LaSallle head lining in my 109. I prevented drumming and vibration and condensation and improved insulation by glueing camping roll mat to the roof panel first. It works very well.

You could just tighten the clamp screw...

Yes, but the Tdi doesn't do the job to the same specification as the 12J, whereas as an HD steering rod does, and the Tdi does need a fair bit of vehicle modification to fit. I get where you're coming from, though. It's a bit grey, and I agree that a jobsworth inspector could cause complications if they so chose and noticed the small differences in those basic parts.

I agree entirely. They are not zero emission unless the electricity is generated by solar, wind or nuclear. But they do help improve city air by removing local emissions and the efficiencies of scale of large scale power generators may be less polluting than IC engines. That has health benefits for the bulk of the population, which is the point that the media are leaping on in recent articles, rather than the global warming debate. Certainly hybrid vehicles are a marketing con and should never have been permitted - a car needs to be one or the other to be efficient, not sitting on the fence.

Again, start and drive. The biggest issue, especially with a dead heater, is going to be demisting the windows. You need to fix that heater, probably just SIII as fitting the Defender type is a bit of a faff (worth while, but rarely done, and the SIII unit can be modified to work just as well). Heated screens are a very big safety as well as practical benefit. I also rate heated wing mirrors highly. Being a bit soft, I also fitted seat heaters and a Kenlowe Hotstart to mine. The heaters get used a lot in the winter, but the Hotstart is not that useful and not worth the money unless you find a cheap second hand one.

Interesting. I wonder what the toque and effective BHP of those motors is. There would be plenty of space to fit batteries in the chassis spaces under the tub and in the empty engine and transmission spaces (especially with the prop shafts and exhaust gone), protecting them from impacts, so you'd be able to keep a respectable range for European/US use where recharging points would be available.

Have you tried driving with an HRTC (or with overdrive left engaged in all gears)? It's not a nice drive, overgeared for pulling away in 1st and needs 3rd instead of a lazy 4th at 30mph (with more wear on the box and its oil and less fuel efficiency). It's a much better alternative than 3.54 diffs, since it doesn't affect low range or speedo accuracy, but it is not as good as having a decent overdrive. It also puts a lot of stress on the lower gears of the main box, so any higher performance engine will kill the box much quicker than standard ratios. You're better off with overdrive or an LT77.

They are detail differences, not fundamental, and are interchangeable, so would almost certainly qualify as suitable service replacements rather than an alteration.

Disco and Defender steering is identical except for the upper column, which you wouldn't swap, and the track rod, which is a service replacement part and wouldn't be an issue (nor would the HD versions) as they're not fundamentally different to the original. The points are comprised as follows: Chassis (original and unaltered, repairs allowed, or brand new to same spec): 5 Axles (original, both together): 2 (both lost if either axle is replaced) Steering: 2 Suspension: 2 Transmission: 2 Engine: 1 You need to score 8 or more. Note, there are no points for the body, so all these Defenders with SII vins are ringers.

The hydraulic type would preclude the use of overdrive, so I wouldn't use that. For aesthetics, I'd go for the capstan - they just look old fashioned. For practical use, I'd have the crank shaft driven drum winch.

Yep, that is a problem for me with the transmission change I'd like to do (like yours, but with the BW transfer box) - I have 9 points now, so can't lose two more for the transmission, having already lost the points for the engine, axles and steering.

I cut the welds to give a smooth column, but you could probably just cut the protruding flange. You could fabricate a bracket to attach tot he bulkhead top like the Defender, but it's not necessary - the column is secured by the Series clamp on the engine side of the bulkhead and by a bracket you need to make up at it's forward end, so is as secure as the original Series column without that third top stay.

I had thought it was pre-73, and pre 76 for a visual check only on emissions for the MoT.

You should see Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur or any Chinese city - they stink to high heaven and have filth and litter everywhere. I have no doubt that every town and village in the region is the same. We in the west are peeing into wind with all the climate change restrictions while the far east behaves like a swarm of locusts. Far better to spend the effort and money on strategies to cope with any new climates rather than trying to stop the inevitable.

Vinyl film applied to the glass would be the easiest and cheapest method.

As Ed says, it won't affect the appearance because the apron panel between the rad panel and bumper will hide the cross member. However, there is no need for that if you use the better P38 box as it sits outboard, not inboard like the Adwest box. The sole advantage is that it save cutting a big hole in the inner wing that needs a panel fabricating to keep the engine bay segregated from the wheel arch, which is little hardship. One issue that users with the original Series axles will face that I didn't with the Defender axles is the possibility of the swivel-axle flange striking the bottom of the box output shaft on large axle articulation; I don't think there would be a problem, but just make sure you site the box accordingly. I had to site mine immediately ahead of the V-gusset for the bumpstops/axle straps (unmodified) because the nose of the PAS box was close tot he oil cooler pipes going into my rad. I think you have more space if you have a Series rad, so can move the box forward so that the swivel flange is behind the box shaft. Defender axles are longer, so the swivel flange is well outboard of the box.

That makes good sense, Ed. I can see that electric would not be viable for plant, large agricultural and heavy haulage vehicles. I think it would be a good application for buses as they have limited range, never tow and seldom have a large load, but produce the bulk of town pollution. Taxis likewise. Tesla cars can be recharged with 250ish mile range in one hour from flat, so taxis would work well if a recharging infrastructure was made. I quite like the idea of a similar electrical system in the Range Rover. The performance figures of Teslas are staggering, and there is plenty of space to add far more batteries in a RRC chassis than the Tesla has, offsetting it's greater weight to retain similar or better range. I wonder how feasible it'd be to transplant the drive system from a scrapped Tesla. It'd be a lovely, quiet drive...

I now live in Dubai, so the 109 is in storage, but it ran beautifully until we left. The only snag I had was the first pump bracket cracking, so I ran it for a week with the belt removed (no strain on the bracket that way) until I had time to make a new one. Like that, it was just like the original steering, so not only does it drive incredibly easily with no change in gearing ratio (same result for a given input), but able to easily turn the steering lock to lock with one little finger while stationary, but it also has good redundancy if you have hydraulic or belt failure. It did get rid of all he road wandering of the old system (which was in perfect condition and adjustment, but still had cumulative play and slop from the sprung relay bushes and the manner in which the steering box rocker shaft works). The P38 PAS box bolt pattern puts the bolts above and below the chassis, not through it, so a sturdy plate welded outboard is sufficient, no need for crush tubes or cross member relocation/alteration. I used 8mm plate with reinforcing gussets running from the corners across the top and bottom of the chassis rail. This is similar, but heavier, than the P38 chassis bracket. I also used a P38 pump, which accepts the earlier V-belt pulley from a 200Tdi or earlier without alteration, just a direct swap. Use the P38 lower column (just adjusted to shorter length by slackening the clamp) and a Defender upper column - any will do as they all have the same bottom end splines. The upper end varies with age, so you'll need to be careful about steering wheels. The Series wheel will fit the columns for the mid aged Defender, one of the Tdis, but I cant remember which. However, you'll have to get clever with modding the column if you want to retain the Series indicator stalk and shroud. I just used Defender switch gear and shroud so that the wheel auto-cancels the indicators correctly and there isn't an enormous gap between the wheel and shroud. I also used the late (TD5/TDCI) column and wheel as it has a smaller diameter, improving the space for you legs and elbows.

My concern is that private vehicles will be affected - I can't imagine them targeting commercial vehicles, especially agricultural equipment, though I expect vans and taxis could be caught up in it. It seems buses and taxis are the worst offenders in the cities, and that is where the problem lies, so having the next generations of each as electric seems the sensible option, and let diesel cars continue, but like I said, logic seldom comes into these things. I like diesels in LRs, but wonder whether the 300Tdi I had rebuilt by Turner Engineering will encumber its associated RRC with restrictions (emission zones in the UK only apply to commercial vehicles at the moment, but they could follow Paris' example) or crippling costs. I wonder whether it'd be better to put a V8 in it when I do the rebuild in the future, at more cost and the loss of the vehicle's originality. I have similar concerns over my 109 - I dodge the bullet at the moment as it's a "historic vehicle", but if they put stupendous taxes on diesel, there won't be any way around it. I can see V8 engines going up in value like the Defender version of the 200Tdi if this does happen.

Try rereading the thread carefully - as I said, I have extensively documented the conversion in my blog, with plenty of photos and showing all the finishing jobs like fabricating mud shields to cover the box and new column under the wheel arch. The only differences you'd face would eb the length of your drag link, unless you are also using Defender/Discover/RRC axles, and the pump bracket. The conversions on expeditionrover are good, but most use other steering parts more easily sourced in the US. There is one P38 conversion on there, but most use the Saginaw box.

Its seems there is a mood in the media and in some political circles against diesel engines, mainly for the health issues associated with their emissions. VW (and judging by the Panorama programme, others including GM) antics in cheating the tests won't help political or public opinion. Modern politics seems to have little to do with logic or rational debate, and much more to do with emotive issues and media pressure. Has anyone any idea if the authorities are looking to ban diesels, or make them economically unviable to use to get us to switch to petrol vehicles (or electric)? Does anyone know if they would be allowed to introduce retrospective legislation that would ban or tax existing diesels off the road, or whether they could only apply it to new build? (The last question comes out of the manner in which retrospective construction and emissions regulations are not applied to older vehicles now, but also the manner in which the road tax was retrospectively increased - doubled as I recall - for some TD5 vehicles). It's a question to help plan future work on vehicles - there is no point in overhauling diesels if they are to become illegal or uneconomical.